Personal Effects

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Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

i have one and really like it. nice fat single coil strat tone with a little p90 flavor. i think it sounds its best in the bridge. in the neck it works with humbuckers but its really hard to match up with other single coils.

Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

I've got one in the neck of one of my strats, matched with an Air Zone, and it really puts out a lot of punch and bass. I could easily see it being a very solid bridge pup. Much like jeremy said, it's a super fat single coil sound with a lot of p-90 pizazz.

Features :
Pickup features: Super Distortion Single Coil, Passive
Impedence or other specs: No idea...

Instrument :
Model of guitar or bass: Fender Japan Floyd Rose Strat originally...now they're about to go into a Warmoth Project
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Crappy Fender Single Coils...
Other pickups on guitar: Duncan 1/4lber RWRP Middle Position hooked up to a TBX Tone Control
Artists using this pickup: I've got 3 of them, one has the "Patent Applied For Sticker" underneath.
You musical style(s): Various...but these cover the gammit!
Reason for pickup change: I hate...let me restate...HATE...single coils...weakass low output and noisy hum.

Sound : No Opinion
Perceived output level: Powerful...overdriven...gritty...SRV TONE all the way IMHO.
Tone: Bassy and Middy but still capable of a bit o sparkle on the top end...not much but still retain some single coil characteristics.
Sonic evaluation: BEEFY...plenty of BALLS. I have these mounted in the Neck and Bridge Positions of a Fender SRV Pickguard that I had modified to accept a Floyd Rose Bridge. Put a RWRP Duncan 1/4lber in the middle hooked up to a TBX Tone Control. I absolutely love the SDS1s...the bridge is an old creme colored "Patent Applied For" Stickered Monster, the neck is a newer one that sounds identical and gives a spunky cool gritty blues vibe...plenty of power in each position. I've adjusted all the polepieces to the same height so that the necka nd bridge are approx identical in sound and output. I took a chance on these w/o ever having heard them and really am pleased w/the results...I couldn't even think of another pickup that has/could come as any where near having the SRV Tone that these do through my '78 Marshall JMP 2x12 Celestion Greenback equipped Combo. Plug straight into the amp. No more searching for "that tone". THESE PICKUPS HAVE IT!!!

Overall Rating : 10
Comments: These are the HOLY GRAIL of Single Coil Pickups...I've put one in the neck position of my BC Rich Gunslinger to match up w/the Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge...these are the perfect single coils. I parted out and sold off the Fender Japan 1985 HM Neck/1990 Sunburst Quilt Foto-Flame Bodied guitar that I originally put the SRV Pickguard upon and have accumulated the parts to commision assembly of a custom built one of a kind SRV Tribute Guitar...new Warmoth Maple Fretboard Neck/2 Piece Alder Body in Candy Tangerine, WD KKT Floyd Rose w/a massive Brass Sustain Block...and the SDS1 Equipped SRV Pickguard.

Pretty standard stuff...but all the right components for an 80's Type Vintage Superstrat Conversion that'll cover a lot of musical territory tonewise. Could have used Active Pickups, Boosts, etc....but wanted to keep this as simple as possible...therefore I'll give it a 9.

Sound : 10
Sweet, raw, raunchy, rude, gritty, overdriven...absolutely nails SRV "Texas Flood" Tone through my old stock Marshall JMP 2x12 Tube Amp...w/o a pedal in between the guitar and the amp. Every thing I've read says that the Dimarzio SDS1 Pickups are noisy...but I'd disagree on that issue. They're quiter than most stock strat pickups I've used/owned...w/the possible exception of Jackson J100 Single Coils. They are the HOLY GRAIL of SINGLE COIL PICKUPS! Love the sounds I'm able to produce. Good for everything from Sparkly Clean (Position 3), Blues (Positions 2 & 4) to Rock/Heavy Metal (Positions 1 &5...as the SDS1s sound pretty much like a Dimarzio Super Distortion Humbucker if you overdrive them and put a Tone Zone Pedal in front of them)...the SDS1s combined w/the Quarter Pounder, TBX and 5 Way make for a killer range of sounds!

Overall Rating : 10
Absolutely satisfied by this guitar. I'd been trying to put this SRV Floyd Rose Strat Project together for over a year and a half...accumulating parts, trying to find the right body:neck fit...after buying and reselling a 1990 Fender Japan Fotoflame Body, 2 1980's Kramer Pacer Bodies and 2 Mighty Mite Bodies in a cost cutting effort...I finally got fed up and bought a new Warmoth Strat Body to go w/the new Warmoth Maple Fretboard Neck...which is what I should have done to begin with.

I'm very happy w/this guitar and couldn't have ask for anything more in having it assembled for me. I've got two other Floyd Rose Superstrats, a 1991 BC Rich Gunslinger and a 1988/1989 Custom Kramer Elliot Easton Pro 1/Pacer Imperial Parts Mongrel and this one hangs tough w/them...each has a specific purpose and is different in pickup combinations etc...the Gunslinger has an EVH Vibe-Maple Board, SDS1 Neck & Tone Zone Bridge P/Us, the EE Imperial-Duncan Pearly Gates Neck & Custom Custom Bridge and then there's "Stevie"

Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

I had one in the bridge position of 76 heavy ash bodied strat I used in the mid 80's.
I was chasing the tone Bernie Torme' got on his "Electric Gypsies" and Live albums,and that was exactly what I got. It's a pickup with lots of everything tone wise. Great for biting pick harmonics. A very "brash" sounding pickup. But they can sound bloody awful with the wrong type of distortion added.

Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

Have had them in the neck/middle, as well as bridge positions and they're a great pickup if you want a full, somewhat aggressive sound from a single coil. Plenty of bite in the bridge position, and all kids of beef in the middle or neck.

Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

I used to have one in a strat with FS-1's in the middle and neck. I was using a dark PV amp and had trouble getting enough treble out of it. But with other amps, it is probably fine. Might need a pot larger than 250k.

Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

You have to be careful-

The new SDS-1 Super D is a single coil sized SuperD- the pickups Jake used are an entirely different pickup are a true single coil and haven't been made for years (notice he also reverse angled them to get less bass/more bite- in a standard strat configuration they sound good, but def not as punchy or biting)

I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

Re: Seeking info on SDS-1.

Originally Posted by JeffB

You have to be careful-

The new SDS-1 Super D is a single coil sized SuperD- the pickups Jake used are an entirely different pickup are a true single coil and haven't been made for years (notice he also reverse angled them to get less bass/more bite- in a standard strat configuration they sound good, but def not as punchy or biting)